Are You Ignoring the Call?

 

     It has been fourteen months since I last taught Sunday School in our Children's Ministry program.  As I prepared myself for the lesson, I wanted to keep in mind that the span of ages from youngest to oldest had increased since my last involvement due to a shortage of volunteers: a problem many churches face, not entirely the fault of the pandemic of 2020.  The lesson plan focused on the life of King Josiah, as told from a passage found in 1 Kings 22;  this story was of a boy installed as the King of Judah following the death of his father.  He was only eight years old.  Helping the kids relate age-wise to the circumstances of this young lad was more than likely one of the key points to be made by this passage.  One of my preoccupations when I teach is how to help the students engage with the story.  If they leave the classroom without understanding how to apply the lesson, I do nothing more than provide a babysitting service.  It would be a terrible shame to miss an opportunity to encourage them to love God's Word. 

     My opening line, "What do you remember about being eight years old?" How hard could it be for kids between the ages of 8 to 11 to recall something that happened to them at this age?  Apparently more challenging than I realized as the room remained silent.  That was okay as I had a memory of my own to share with them.  Even in my sixth decade, I could still recall taking piano lessons.  I shared, "My first lesson was on August 8 (1968) when I was eight years old.  I left off the year just in case I had any great math student who might tell me that I was older than Methuselah.    I expected them to ask how I remembered this date; you may have noticed a repeating pattern of eights?  I went on to tell them that I would walk to my lesson a short distance from our home.    As I recalled this memory, I shared that I was upset that I had to cut my fingernails; my teacher was afraid I would scratch the ivory keys on her baby grand.  I also remembered one of my many recitals, sitting next to my brother on the piano bench wearing a frilly lavender pantsuit (that was me, not him), playing a duet from the well-known musical called The Sound of Music.  The song was Edelweiss.  If you're closer to my age than these kids, the melody is probably running through your head.  That was back in the day when polyester leisure suits were the rage.  The blank stares on the children's faces proved that they had never heard of this famous movie, nor did they know the song.   They probably wouldn't even understand the phrase 'the rage’ if I were exposing the truth.  It’s always easier to relate to one’s own memory than to care about someone else's.  I was trying to prime the pump, get them talking.  It was the way I imagined that the kids could relate to this story of King Josiah.  The lesson plan told me that I was to make the point that the Word of God is important.  That was only one lesson of the many that I discovered when reviewing this passage.    

    This story of King Josiah had a strange familiarity to it as my family had just enjoyed a British mini-series on the life of Queen Victoria.  This Masterpiece Theater presentation showed us that Queen Victoria faced many challenges in 1837 when she was crowned the Queen of England at the young age of eighteen.  History tells us that Queen Victoria relied on the influence of two men, her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and her husband, Prince Albert, who she married when she was 21.  Although she possessed little power, her legacy of influence was remembered well after her 64-year reign.   I wanted to talk to the kids about some of the challenges an eight-year-old would face when he held such a highly responsible position.  What was the biggest responsibility they held?  I also wanted them to consider the possibility that it is good to leave behind a great legacy, even if we didn’t have any good role models. 

     If I were to teach this lesson from this isolated passage (found in 1 Kings 22), I might miss some relevant aspects of this story.  What large shoes was young Josiah trying to fill?   It is not necessary that our teaching be confined by the boundaries established by a pre-packed lesson plan.   Rather than have the kids think of this Bible story as a fictional account, I wanted them to find personal value in it.  What was the reason behind why such a young boy would assume the role of King of Judah?  Wasn’t there anyone more suitable or more experienced, perhaps an uncle or a cousin?  The kids showed me they understood lines of succession through royal families like the one I had mentioned in England.  This illustration allowed me to talk about King Hezekiah, the great grandfather of King Josiah, a good king.  King Manasseh shared the post with his father for twelve years (ages 12 to 24) in a coregency position.  When Hezekiah died, Manasseh did not follow in his father’s footsteps and undid many of his father's reforms.  I pointed the children to a Bible passage that named some of his sins:  (1) he rebuilt the high places used for idol worship, (2) he erected altars to Baal, (3) he made an Asherah pole, (4) he worshipped the starry hosts, (5) he built altars to other gods in the Holy Temple of the LORD, (6) he practiced witchcraft, and (7) he consulted with mediums.  I asked the kids, “How would you like those things to show up on your permanent record?”    On a brighter note; the Scriptures tell us that God humbled Manasseh, and he asked God to forgive him of his sins.  By the end of Manasseh’s reign, he worshipped God.  However, most of the evil influence Manasseh had during his kingship could not be undone.  Many of the people he influenced walked away from God.  Was Manasseh a good role model, I asked?  Wouldn’t you hate to be responsible for causing someone to drift away from God?  After fifty-five years as ruler of Judah, Manasseh died, and his oldest living son, Amon, was crowned.

     King Amon, Josiah’s father, is a much shorter story.  He only ruled for two years.  Rather than follow the reformed path of his father, Amon did not humble himself.  The prophets accused King Amon of worshipping Baal, the starry hosts, and Molech (see Zephaniah 1:4-5).  His life ended by assassination; his own servants killed him, leaving the throne to an eight-year-old boy.  I let the kids describe what they knew about the word assassination, which they related to U.S. Presidents who had fallen in the same manner.  I asked, “if the people of Judah thought an eight-year-old would make a better king than his father, was King Amon, a good role model?”

     The children had already watched a two-minute video in the large room before I started teaching them this lesson.  It described King Josiah as a good King.  I asked the kids to look at some descriptions of King Josiah as recorded in 2 Chronicle 34, a parallel story with a few more details.  In verse three, we learned that King Josiah decided to seek the God of King David when he was sixteen.  When he was twenty, Josiah cleansed the Southern Kingdom of idols and pagan practices.  Just six years later, he supported efforts to repair the house of the LORD.  It was then that the Book of the Law was discovered, presumably hidden for safekeeping.  Finding and reading the Book of the Law was the main point of this lesson.  So I asked the kids, do you know what this means, “The Book of the Law?”  What I was after was not that it was a book with laws written in it.  I was hoping to help them see what scrolls were recovered.   We talked about the first five books of the Bible (written by Moses) might be the most obvious answer; however, the focus of this lesson might place us in the Book of Deuteronomy, which name means Second Law.

     I pointed the kids to Deuteronomy 17:14-20, which may have been of great interest to King Josiah because it outlines the requirements for the Kings of Israel as presented by God in His Word.  It talks about not collecting great wealth, many horses, or many wives—all of which many kings before Josiah had done.  But one of the most effective instructions given to kings was that they were to write out the entire book of the law by hand and meditate on it night and day;  this was one of King David’s practices.  We see evidence of this in reading the Psalms.  The King would have had many reminders of the roles and responsibilities of the priests and those who looked after the temple of the LORD.  We related this tribe's name to a well-known brand of denim blue jeans.  You’ve heard of them, haven’t you?  We had to offer help as none of the kids named a brand that had anything to do with Levi.  The Book of the Law would have informed the King of important celebrations that God wanted the Israelites to observe.  We learned that King Josiah brought back the Passover celebration during his reign.    

     Also, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verses 10-13 (ESV), we read:  "And Moses commanded them, "At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.  Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess."   The Bible tells us that it had been about 250 years since the Israelites had met at Mount Ebal and Mount Gezerim for this reading of the law.  If they had continued to follow this practice, it seems more likely that the people of Israel would not have drifted so far from the LORD.  King Josiah died at the age of 39 after 31 years of reign.  God promised Josiah that he would not bear the consequences of Judah’s downfall because he humbled himself and allowed God to direct his life.  Unlike his grandfather and father, Josiah did not follow their practices but turned the people's hearts toward God.  One of the main points I hoped to make is that young people who choose to be obedient to God’s Word have the opportunity to change not only their own life but the lives of others who God places on their path.

     It isn’t hard to tell children Bible stories.  But rather than just be a storyteller, I hope to unmask the deeper reason why I’m telling them the story in the first place.  Even if I ask the kids, why do you think God has given us this story in His Holy Word?  If I’m going to teach a child how to look up Bible verses to find answers, will I do it in such a way that creates interest?  Whether I use a game or a craft, I think that helping the kids understand why they are participating in a Sunday School class is essential.  I was highly encouraged as I learned how each of my students receives divine instruction in their homes and how I can pray for them.  Spiritual discipline is more the responsibility of a mother or father than a Sunday School teacher.  But I am grateful that God has entrusted me with some of His kids to teach them how to love God and obey His rules.  If you’ve never considered volunteering in a Children’s Ministry, how might you recognize this responsibility as God calling us to feed His sheep?  God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called.  Learning how to teach kids causes spiritual growth in the teacher as well.  It's funny how this works.